Low light shredding ain't so bad...

I got used to it.  I just came to the realization that I am thankful for the great lighting I usually have available to me for shredding.  I pretty much don't worry about it.  Ever.  Well that's not true, it factors into my 'perception' of what is possible, so in a sense my perceptions are limiting me here.

Today, Valeria fell asleep on the couch right next to my living room shred zone, so I had to keep the lights low, and I tweaked my workout towards the quieter tricks today.  Lots of juggling and unusual surfaces and short fun stuff.  After about 10 minutes, the low light scenario didn't factor into my decisions at all.  I got through my warm-ups, and I immediately ran into a personal innovation... Fairy same blender.  Probably because yesterday I obsessed on double dyno style moves.  So I pulled a fairy set and thought, why not go for a whirl or a blender with the same leg as the fairy dex, of which I hit both on both sides, within minutes of stumbling upon it..  What is the name of Fairy same-leg same-side Blender?  And Fairy same-leg same-side Whirl?  I'll film them tomorrow.  I've hit Fairy-Phobic-(other leg) Blender and posted it to youtube recently, but this easier stuff is new to me.  

I also skooled a pattern that is juggle-juggle-juggle, seamless (out) Fairy DLO, to seamless (in) pixie DLO, juggle-juggle-juggle, repeat... I'll also film this tomorrow.

The moral of this story?  "Beware of perceptions, particularly those that limit belief.  Possibility is still unlimited, it is my mind that stops me most of the time."

Best regards,
-enlightener

Shred notes: See above.

World Championships 1999 Freestyle Results

No doubt that 1999 was a great year for me!  My son was 1 year old, the economy was great and I was literally peaking in career, my footbag 'game', and my life in general.

I have prepared a YouTube video that contains the performances of the top 4 finishers of the 1999 World Footbag Championships Singles Freestyle competition.  With great respect for all my competitors in this video (Ryan Mulroney, Rick Reese and Peter Irish), please enjoy...



I have to credit Ryan Mulroney for lighting a fire under my ass and making me want to win the World Title that much more.  And I have to thank Rich Abshire for supplying me with the footbag I used to win the title!  Sure I have used, and I still currently use ">Freedom Footbags on a daily basis (1396 today), but in 1999 I was using an Abshire footbag!

Shred notes: October 1-15 2010
Have been stumbling upon some great moves.  See: Phobic Da Da, Fairy same Drifter, Pixie opp Drifter [HD] and Phobic Vortex and Spyro para Drifter [HD] .  I love the creative process and now that i play indoors more, I am trying to focus on longer strings, ionically.

Freestyle Routines: A Music Map is a guide for development

I like to use different music for each event I perform at. It has been a personal challenge that I could easily wimp out on, but it keeps things fresh and provides a constant challenge for each event.

When I prepare for a footbag event, I first have to decide on the music. I match the average Beats Per Minute that I shred at, with the pace of the music BPM, and find a piece of music that I can hear over and over and over and over again. I prefer music that has at least a few freezes in it, fast paced but a short slow section is okay.

The Music Map comes in when I am ready to figure out the flow of the routine. The Music Map contains a timeline from 0:00 to the end, and tells me which sections of the music are which. For instance:

0:00 - Open with ...
0:26 -Freeze on Xbody Sole
0:54 - Start fliers string
1:21 - Ripwalks / Blur combo
etcetera.

They help me to visualize the music. I even name the sections so I can visualize them by group, and train the groups independently of each other. When doing a routine, if you should malfunction, get off beat or out of sync with the music, it is very helpful to be able to 'get right back into it' at any point in the music, and I think this helps me to recover from potential disasters.

Shred notes: 2/2/10 - 2/3/10
Spinning Symposium Twirl... I got my foot on it twice, more like a slap than a delay. Redirected the footbag but not in a controlled fashion. It is doable though, so close. Getting warmer faster by mixing up my warmup strings. Also more 'interesting' and satisfying jam sessions too.

Ted Martin - Guinness World Record Holder

Ted Martin gives me a call last night out of the blue. Small world alert because his name came up in conversation at work, as one of my clients had been contacted by someone unknown about his agent services... anyway that very night, Ted gives me a call. What's up with that?

Ted Martin is the Guinness World Record Holder in the prestigious and coveted event of Singles Footbag Consecutives. Set at an event I organized back in 1997, the record still stands at 63,326 as the most number of kicks of a footbag that any human being has ever completed in a row. Ted has been featured in a special publication by Guinness called "The Top 100 Most Asked About Records" (paraphrased), and he still plays footbag net on a regular basis, along with many other sports. Ted is a true craftsman, and I consider it an honor to have been a part of his domination of the sport back in the day.

A major Trading Card manufacturer, Upper Deck, has created a card to celebrate Ted's accomplishment, and Ted is signing one for me, Valeria and Alex. We will for sure be framing that and adding it over my desk. I can't wait to see them, so I searched their site and found the image above! Awesome!

I am psyched to start shredding today, right now as I post, for the 1136th day in a row! Still, I don't think I would ever try to attempt a single string of over 63,326 kicks in a row... Ted kicks VERY fast compared to me, what took him just over 8.5 hours, would take me at least 12. That's a long session. Thanks Ted for continuing to inspire!

25th Annual Midwest Regional Footbag Championships - Wrap up and Results

Dec. 27-28, 2009.
25th Annual Midwest Regional Footbag Championships - Wrap up and Results.

About 50 players united for two days of shredding. Milan Benda from Czech Republic, Ken Somolinos from D.C., Brian, Emily and Goldberg from central CA, among others from Toledo, St. Louis, Wisconsin and nearby states!

Thanks to our sponsors!
Freedom Footbags.com
World Footbag.com (WFA)
Kolo Sport
Brat
Chicago's Mayors Office of Special Events

Results (draft)
Footbag Freestyle Routines
-1st Place - Milan Benda
-2nd Place - Scott Davidson
-3rd Place - Ken Somolinos

Circle Contest
-1st Place - Ken Somolinos
-2nd Place - Milan Benda
-3rd Place - (name temp. missing)

More results:
Trick request contest- Milan Benda
Novice Consecutives: Alex Davidson (102, personal record)

Once I get these results completed here, I'll cross post them to Footbag.org and modified.in.

- enlightener